Novelty drinking straws are a perennially popular item, particularly for children. A number of such straws have been developed which include an audio component. That is, the straw is capable of making or reproducing a pleasant or humorous sound. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,122,959 discloses a conventional music box mounted around a drinking straw. The music box includes a crank so that it may be operated by turning the crank, either in conjunction with using the straw to sip liquids, or simply by itself.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,121,835 and 4,631,715 both disclose drinking straws which have a recorded soundtrack formed along their external surfaces. When either of these straws is moved through an opening in a resilient container lid, the recording on the sound is reproduced. The pitch and speed of the reproduced sound will vary depending on how the straw is manipulated. In the case of the '715 patent, the straw is pushed through cross slits in the container lid so as to produce a sharper point which vibrates against the soundtrack on the straw. Since these straws must be pushed up and down through the container lid to produce a sound, it is difficult to perform such manipulation while the straw is otherwise in use.
It would be advantageous to have a straw which is capable of reproducing a prerecorded sound simply by the act of sipping beverage through the straw. It would also be advantageous to have such a straw wherein the sound is producible while the straw is in use.
It would be further advantageous to have a straw including a vacuum switch which is activated by suction on the straw to cause the occurrence of a novelty action, such as playing prerecorded music, activating a light, moving lightweight objects, or releasing mechanical motion in a windup toy.
It would also be advantageous to have a novelty container in combination with such a drinking straw in which the slight vacuum created by sipping from the straw serves to move an electronic contact onto a switch connected to a battery powered component to initiate an action, such as the playing of a prerecorded melody.